Work on Ram temple will start this year, predicts seer

Construction work on a grand Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya will begin in 2016 and get completed before December 6, 2018, the 26th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, a prominent seer has said.

Arrival of a fresh load of stones from Rajasthan at the disputed Ram Janmabhumi-Babri Masjid site earlier once again swung the spotlight onto the temple controversy.

Construction work on a grand Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya will begin in 2016 and get completed before December 6, 2018, the 26th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, a prominent seer has said.

Jagadguru Rambhadracharya, the founder and head of the Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot, declared this during a Ramkatha (discourse on Ram) at Mahawa village in Faizabad on Thursday evening. He said a grand structure will be raised from the makeshift structure that already exists at the site.

The seer made the statement in the presence of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, president of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and a key player in the 1992 Ayodhya movement. He also hailed the contribution of late Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) patron Ashok Singhal and former Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief Mahant Ram Chandra Paramhans Das to the Ram temple cause, adding that their dreams would be realised soon.

Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the case, objected to Rambhadracharya’s statement. He advised the seer to wait for the final verdict of the Supreme Court before making further comments of the kind.

Refusing to be drawn into a new controversy, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das distanced himself from the statement by saying that it reflected Rambhadracharya’s personal views.

Both the seers may attend a two-day VHP meeting on the Ram temple issue at Allahabad, set to begin on February 3. Legal hurdles before the kar sevaks and stone carving work at the Ayodhya workshop would figure prominently on its agenda.